Het goede van natuurlijke chocolade*
Volgens een Amerikaanse studie bevatten natuurlijk cacaopoeder en natuurlijke,
pure
chocolade meer bioactieve stoffen dan veel gezonde fruitsoorten en de sappen daarvan. Natuurlijke cacao en chocolade betekent dat het cacaopoeder verder niet bewerkt is en niet zoals vaak gebeurd bewerkt wordt met alkalizouten
(ook wel alkalized of dutching genoemd) waardoor de hoeveelheid bioactieve stoffen duidelijk afnemen. De onderzoekers stelden van de verschillende producten de ORAC waarde (de anti-oxidatieve kracht, de kracht om vrije radicalen weg te vangen), het aantal
catechinen en het aantal proanthocyanen vast. De geteste producten waren: natuurlijk cacaopoeder, fruitpoeder en 100% fruitsap (van blauwe bes, granaatappel, acai bessen en cranberry), natuurlijke cacaodrank, pure chocolade met 60-63% natuurlijke cacao , en van een warme cacaodrank, van bewerkte cacao. De gevonden waarden werden met elkaar vergeleken. Cacaopoeder bleek duidelijk de hoogste ORAC waarde te hebben in vergelijking met de fruitpoeders, het aantal catechinen leek wat hoger doch het aantal proanthocyanen was duidelijk hoger in cacaopoeder. De ORAC waarden voor de pure chocolade was veruit de hoogste van alle geteste producten, alleen de waarde van
granaatappelsap benaderde deze hoge waarde. Verder bleek dat van alle geteste producten de warme cacaodrank veruit de laagste ORAC waarde had.
Is Chocolate the New Superfruit?
Cocoa powder and dark chocolate has equivalent polyphenol content and greater antioxidant and flavanol content than various super fruits, claims a new study by research scientists based at the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition.The authors, who published their findings in the Chemistry Central Journal said that their results indicate that cacao seeds thus provide nutritive value beyond that derived from their macronutrient composition and thus should be termed 'super fruit'.
The fruit pulp of the Theobroma cacao pod that surrounds its seeds can be consumed; however the vast majority of people have only consumed the seed-derived portion of cacao in the form of cocoa powder or chocolate. So the goal of the study, said the Hershey scientists, was to compare cocoa powder and chocolate, products representing the commonly eaten portion of the cacao fruit, with powders and juices from so-called "Super Fruits".
Cocoa powder and chocolate were compared with powders derived from acai, blueberry, cranberry, and pomegranate, continued the authors, on measures of antioxidant activity, as measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC (µM TE/g)), total polyphenol content (TP (mg/g)), and total flavanol content (TF (mg/g)).
MethodTo limit sampling error with each analysis method, each brand of fruit powder and product was prepared and analyzed in triplicate using chemical assays, said the team.
The materials selected, they explained, included commercially available fruit powders, natural (non-alkalized) cocoa, 100 per cent non blended fruit juices, natural cocoa beverage, solid dark chocolate (60-63 per cent cacao), and hot cocoa mix.
All powders were obtained via food ingredient suppliers, while the juices, solid dark chocolate, and hot cocoa mix were obtained at retail and analyzed in the form sold to consumers.
They said that a cocoa beverage was produced by combining 240 ml water, 25 g sugar, 1 g salt, and 12 g of natural cocoa powder and was designed to have a composition similar to that of the other fruit juices. 240 ml was considered a typical single serving of fruit juice or cocoa beverage, 40 g was considered a typical single serving of dark chocolate, and 28 g was considered a typical single serving of hot cocoa mix.
ResultsThe authors' findings demonstrated that the antioxidant capacity of cocoa powder (634 ± 33 µMTE/g) was significantly greater than blueberry, cranberry, and pomegranate powder on a per gram basis.
They said that the total polyphenol content of cocoa powder (48.2 ± 2.1 mg/g) appeared to be greater than acai, blueberry, and cranberry powder; however these differences did not reach statistical significance, added the researchers.
And the Hershey team found that the total flavanol content (of cocoa powder (30.1 ± 2.8 mg/g) was significantly greater than all of the other fruit powders tested.
Analysis of fruit products demonstrated that the antioxidant capacity of dark chocolate (9911 ± 1079 µMTE/serving) was not significantly greater, on a per serving basis, than pomegranate juice but was greater than that of all other products tested. In contrast, hot cocoa mix had significantly less antioxidant capacity (1232 ± 159 µMTE/serving) than all of the other products tested, noted the team.
"The results of the current study demonstrate that cocoa powder has equivalent or significantly higher in vitro antioxidant activity, as measured by ORAC values, compared to the tested fruit powders.Similarly, the TP content of cocoa powder was equivalent to that of the fruit powders and its TF content was significantly higher than that of all the fruit powders tested," reported the Hershey scientists.
They also stress that the cocoa powders, cocoa beverages, and dark chocolate used in the study all contained natural (or non-alkalized) cocoa but that the hot cocoa mixes were made with alkalized cocoa.
The extent of polyphenol destruction, continue the researchers, is proportional to the degree of alkalization and change in the water extractable pH of the resulting powder antioxidant capacity and polyphenol content may be severely diminished in alkalized cocoa powder and products made with alkalized cocoa.
"Alkalinization is used to mellow the flavor of cocoa, however the process has been shown to destroy polyphenolic compounds and is likely responsible for the significant differences in ORAC, TP, and TC values observed between hot cocoa mix and the other cocoa products," commented the team.
Just one thing to remember: best to select dark chocolate and also make sure it is from fair trade, organic sources, as well as the related ingredients like sugar to avoid exposure to GMO, as Hershey seems to be using these
days.
Source: Chemistry Central Journal
(Februari 2011)
Reacties:
De uitkomsten zouden "gekleurd" kunnen zijn omdat de onderzoekers werkzaam zijn in het laboratorium van een grote chocoladeproducent. Doch andere studies laten vergelijkbare resultaten zien wat betreft de hoeveelheden onderzochte nutriënten.
In tegenstelling tot wat overal in de media beweerd wordt is niet alle chocolade dus zo gezond maar hoofdzakelijk die chocolade de niet tijdens de fabricage aan een alkalisatieproces zijn onderworpen, en dat is slechts weinig chocolade.